Fifth Top-10 Finish on a Road Course for No. 17 Team in 2022
CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 9, 2022) – Track position would prove to be tough in this year’s NASCAR Cup Series race on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL configuration, but a few late race cautions would help provide an opportunity for the Fastenal Ford Mustang to shine.
Starting from the rear of the field after an unapproved adjustment, Chris Buescher made quick work of almost a dozen cars to crack the top-30 by lap five. Reporting that the car needed more lateral grip after the first run, crew chief Scott Graves exercised the option to short-pit before the stage end, putting Chris in 24th to end the first stage.
Cycling through to 15th for the start of stage two, Chris hovered around the top-15 until the No. 17 team short-pitted again with eight laps to go in the stage. This would once again put Chris 24th to end the stage, lining him up 14th for stage three once all cars cycled through pit stops.
In a mostly uneventful stage three, the No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang made it up to the 12th position with ten laps remaining, followed by a caution for debris with under ten laps to go. Electing to take four tires and fuel under caution, Buescher would line up outside the top-10 for a three lap dash to the finish.
The caution would fly for incident twice in the final run to the finish, even seeing a red flag for cleanup on the backstretch chicane. Buescher would pull through the madness to come home with a sixth-place finish, his fifth top-10 of the season on a road course.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the next stop for the NASCAR Cup Series. Race coverage next Sunday is set for 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Christopher Bell capitalized on a late strategic pit call for fresh tires followed by two late-race restarts by winning a wild conclusion to the fifth annual running of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 9.
The 27-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led the final two of 112 over-scheduled laps en route to the victory. Prior to his victory, he was initially appeared to be eliminated from the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. When the caution flew due to debris being reported on the track with six laps remaining, an opportunity struck for Bell, who pitted for four fresh tires. Amid two late-race restarts, including the second that sent the event into overtime, and a bevy of carnage and chaos that affected a number of Playoff contenders, Bell managed to carve his way to the front as he claimed the lead from Kevin Harvick with two laps remaining. From there, he rocketed away from the field and smoothly navigate his way around the circuit for a final time to claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Bell, who came into the event 54 points below the top-eight cutline to transfer to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, was one of eight competitors to transfer and continue to pursue this year’s title while another group of four competitors, including reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, were left on the outside and out of the Playoffs.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff competitor Joey Logano claimed his third pole position of the 2022 season and the 25th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 103.424 mph in 80.755 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff competitor William Byron, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 103.300 mph in 80.852 seconds.
Prior to the event, Playoff competitor Ross Chastain along with Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Loris Hezemans and newcomer Conor Daly dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. Aric Almirola also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Josh Williams, who failed pre-race technical inspection and was assessed a pass-through penalty through pit road upon starting the race.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Logano fended off Byron to lead the field through the first two turns followed by the infield, road course turns while Byron was being challenged early by Suarez for second place. As the field returned to the oval turns before entering the backstretch chicane and returning to the frontstretch chicane, Logano was able to lead the first lap ahead of a four-car battle for the runner-up spot that included Byron, Suarez, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney. Behind, Austin Dillon missed the frontstretch chicane and was later assessed a pass-through penalty through pit road for failing to comply to missing the chicane by coming to a full stop on the track.
Through the second lap of the event, Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang remained out in front by more than a second over Byron’s No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Suarez, Reddick, Blaney, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott were scored in the top 10.
During the following lap, Bubba Wallace missed the frontstretch chicane after locking up the front tires of his No. 45 Root Insurance Toyota TRD Camry while running in the top 10 as he came to a full stop before proceeding to avoid a penalty. Wallace eventually pitted under green for four fresh tires after flat-sotting his original tires.
Through the first five scheduled laps, Logano stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Byron followed by Suarez, Reddick and Blaney while Cindric, Bell, Allmendinger, Elliott and Michael McDowell were running in the top 10. By then, seven of 11 Playoff competitors participating in the event were racing in the top 10 while the remaining Playoff competitors that included Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain were in 12th, 14th, 17th and 26th, respectively. Meanwhile, Noah Gragson, who was filling in for Alex Bowman for a second consecutive weekend, was in 22nd behind Erik Jones.
At the Lap 10 mark, Logano’s advantage decreased to seven-tenths of a second over Byron, who started to close in on Logano for the lead, while Suarez remained in third place and nearly four seconds behind. While Reddick and Blaney remained in the top five, Cindric, Allmendinger, Elliott, Bell and McDowell were scored in the top 10.
By the Lap 20 mark, pit strategy commenced as Chastain, Chris Buescher and Mike Rockenfeler pitted along with Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Gragson, Almirola, Joey Hand, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch, the Dillon brothers, Stenhouse, Keselowski, McDowell, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, AJ Allmendinger and Elliott. During the pit stops, rookie Todd Gilliland missed his pit box and cycled around the circuit for another lap before pitting again. Meanwhile, Logano remained as the leader by half a second over a hard-charging Byron while Suarez was trying to defend Reddick for third place.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Logano held off Byron by half a second to capture his sixth stage victory of the 2022 season. Suarez, who prevailed in his battle with Reddick after Reddick pitted under green a few laps earlier, settled in third followed by Blaney, Cindric, Larson, Briscoe, Hamlin, Reddick and Allmendinger. By then, eight of 12 Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 while the remaining Playoff competitors that included Elliott, Bell and Chastain were in 11th, 14th and 17th, respectively. In addition, all but one of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap while Daniil Kvyat was in the garage and scored in 39th place, dead last.
Under the stage break, some led by Logano pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.
The second stage started on Lap 29 as Reddick and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick managed to fend off Allmendinger to retain the lead through the first two turns and through the infield turns while the field behind jostled for positions. Behind, Justin Haley made his way into third while Bell, Elliott and McDowell battled for fourth in front of Cole Custer and Kevin Harvick.
During the following lap, Allmendinger, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at the Roval, muscled his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around Reddick’s No. 8 3Chi Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while re-entering the oval turns to take the lead for the first time.
With the event surpassing the Lap 35 mark, Allmendinger was leading by nearly a second over Reddick followed by Haley, Elliott and McDowell while Bell, Custer, Harvick, Chastain and Erik Jones were in the top 10. By then, Ty Gibbs was in 11th while Truex, Burton, Corey LaJoie, Gragson, Keselowski, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and Briscoe occupied the top 20. Stenhouse was scored in 21st ahead of Logano, Suarez, Larson and Byron while Blaney, Almirola, Hamlin, Cindric and Gilliland were running in the top 30. Notably, Wallace, who made contact with Suarez on pit road during the first stage’s break period, was mired in 32nd ahead of Joey Hand, Loris Hezemans was in 35th, Mike Rockenfeller was back in 37th and Conor Daly was mired in 38th.
Five laps later, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than a second over Reddick while Haley, Elliott and McDowell remained in the top five. By then, only three of 11 Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 while the remaining eight were scored outside of the top 15, with Briscoe being the highest of the eight in 17th place. As Logano and Larson battled for 21st place, Suarez was mired in 24th in front of Byron, Blaney and Hamlin. In the midst of the Playoff competitors jockeying for positions, both Gragson and Corey LaJoie missed the backstretch chicane and both were forced to come to a full stop before proceeding.
A few laps later, Chastain missed the backstretch chicane while running in ninth place and was forced to come to a stop before proceeding under green. Despite missing the chicane, he only lost one spot as he was back in 10th behind Erik Jones and Harvick.
In the closing laps of the second stage, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as names including Kyle Busch, Ty Dillon, Hamlin, Gilliland, Stenhouse, Keselowski, Erik Jones, Reddick, Elliott, Wallace, Gragson, Austin Dillon, Truex, McDowell, Bell, Harvick, Custer, Haley and the leader Allmendinger pitted. In the midst of the cycle, Chastain, who opted for stage points, moved into the lead.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 50, Chastain, who started at the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s qualifying session, captured his sixth stage victory of the 2022 season. Harrison Burton settled in second while Larson, Allmendinger, Reddick, Suarez, Logano, Briscoe, Blaney and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, seven of 11 Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 on the track while the remaining Playoff competitors that included Byron, Cindric, Bell and Hamlin were mired in 11th, 12th, 16th and 31st, respectively. In addition, all but one of 39 starters were running on the track and on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, some led by Chastain pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger and Reddick remained on the track.
With 55 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allmendinger and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick and Allmendinger dueled for the lead until Reddick used the outside lane to his advantage as he rocketed to the lead. Behind, Elliott overtook Haley for third followed by Harvick as the field jostled again for positions. Through the infield turns and back to the oval turns, Reddick managed to remain ahead of Allmendinger as the event surpassed its halfway mark.
Five laps later and down to the final 50 laps of the event, Reddick was leading by six-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Elliott, Haley, Harvick, McDowell, Custer, Bell, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon occupied the top 10. Gragson was up in 11th followed by Erik Jones, Buescher, Truex and Gibbs while Keselowski, Hamlin, Briscoe, Almirola and Byron were running in the top 20. Wallace was mired back in 21st ahead of Ty Dillon, LaJoie, Suarez and Chastain while Cindric, Larson, Logano, Blaney and Stenhouse rounded out the top 30.
Another 10 laps later, Reddick continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Allmendinger followed by Elliott, Haley and Harvick while McDowell, Custer, Bell, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon remained in the top 10. By then, Elliott and Bell, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to advance in the Playoff’s Round of 8, were the only Playoff competitors running in the top 10 on the track while Briscoe, Hamlin, Byron, Larson, Chastain, Cindric, Blaney, Logano and Suarez were running in 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 27th and 36th, respectively. Based on their current positions, Briscoe, who overcame contact with LaJoie at the start of the final stage in the backstretch chicane, held sole possession of the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by 15 points over Suarez, who was having power steering issues to his No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, with Cindric also trailing outside of the cutline.
Not long after, Bell and Larson pitted under green along with Elliott and Buescher, Ty Dillon, Stenhouse, Logano and Cindric. Then under the final 36 laps of the event, Reddick surrendered the lead to pit along with Harvick, Custer, Truex, Briscoe, Byron and Cindric. By then, Allmendinger cycled into the lead while Suarez was lapped by the leaders.
With 35 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted under green while McDowell moved into the lead. By then, Hamlin, Blaney, Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Gragson and Haley made their respective pit stops under green.
Three laps later, Elliott, who emerged as the highest-running competitor on the track who recently pitted under green, cycled his way into the lead after overtaking Erik Jones, who still had to pit. By then, McDowell pitted under green as Reddick and Allmendinger closed in on Jones for the runner-up spot.
A few laps later, a pair of issues struck for Trackhouse Racing’s two-car entries. The first was when Suarez, who was scored two laps behind the leaders, pitted under green to have his power steering issue diagnosed as his hopes of advancing to the Round of 8 took a hit. The second was for Chastain, who made contact with the wall and was slipping sideways through each and every turn, but continued to run under minimum speed for another pair of laps before pitting under green. Chastain, who came into the event 28 points above the Round of 8 cutline, would eventually reserve his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to the garage due to an issue with his toe link and right rear suspension. His issues garnered the attention of Cindric, who rallied from getting into Joey Hand entering the backstretch chicane and was scored one spot outside of the cutline, while Briscoe continued to occupy the eighth and final transfer spot in the Playoff standings.
With less than 20 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Reddick and five seconds over third-place Allmendinger while Harvick, Haley, McDowell, Bell, Gragson, Austin Dillon and Custer occupied the top 10. By then, Elliott and Bell remained as the only Playoff competitors to be running in the top 10 on the track while Larson, Briscoe, Byron, Cindric, Hamlin, Blaney, Logano, Suarez and Chastain were scored in 14th, 15th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 36th and 37th, respectively.
Nearly five laps later, Chastain returned to the track and he was mired in 37th place, nine laps behind the leaders, but still in contention of transferring to the Round of 8. Teammate Suarez, however, returned to pit road for more steering fluid. Back at the front, Elliott stabilized his large advantage to more than four seconds over Allmendinger. Reddick, meanwhile, was forced to stop on the frontstretch for missing the backstretch chicane, but he managed to proceed in third place ahead of Harvick and Haley.
With 14 laps remaining, more issues encountered Suarez, who made contact with LaJoie as LaJoie spun towards the frontstretch chicane. Despite the incident, both competitors proceeded without drawing a caution as Elliott continued to lead by nearly four seconds over Allmendinger.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by nearly four seconds over Allmendinger. Reddick remained in third in front of Harvick and Haley while McDowell, Bell, Austin Dillon, Gragson and Custer were in the top 10. By then, Briscoe, who was in 13th, continued to hold sole possession of the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by a mere margin over Suarez, who was back in 36th and five laps behind the leaders. In the midst of this, Larson pitted and spent extra time in his pit box after reporting a toe link and right rear suspension issue to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, an issue that stemmed from him getting into the wall in Turn 7 earlier.
Then with six laps remaining, the caution flew due to debris reported on the track. By then, Elliott was ahead by more than four seconds over Allmendinger. In addition, Larson returned to the track following his mechanical issues as he was scored in 35th place, five laps down and one spot ahead of Suarez. During the caution period, some led by Bell pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track
When the race restarted under green with three laps remaining, Elliott and Allmendinger dueled for the lead as Gragson made contact with McDowell and spun entering the first turn. Back at the front, Allmendinger rubbed and moved Elliott up the track in Turn 3 to clear himself for the lead. Through Turn 4, however, Harvick bumped and got Allmendinger loose as he muscled his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang into the lead. Two turns later, Reddick got into Elliott in a battle for second place as Elliott spun and plummeted below the leaderboard. Through the backstretch chicane, Briscoe spun after getting hit by Austin Dillon while Logano, Erik Jones and Byron also wrecked. Amid all the chaos, the race proceeded under green as Harvick continued to lead.
When the field returned to the frontstretch, Harvick was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Bell, Allmendinger and Haley. Not long after, more carnage ensued as Almirola and Ty Dillon collided and spun. Following the incident, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime due to curbing that came loose on the backstretch chicane, which caused NASCAR to display the red flag and pause the event for six minutes to repair the curbs in the chicane.
Once the field proceeded under a cautious pace after the repairs to the chicane were made, names like Byron, Gragson, Briscoe, Almirola, LaJoie, Ty Dillon, Burton, Logano, Cindric and Almirola pitted while the rest led by Harvick remained on the track.
During the first overtime attempt, Harvick and Bell battled for the lead until Bell used the fresh tires to his advantage as he assumed the lead and cleared the field approaching the infield turns. Amid a multi-car wreck in the first turn that collected Blaney, the race remained under green as Bell started to pull away from Harvick and the field. Then through the backstretch chicane, Cindric, who was trying to fight his way into the Round of 8, locked up his front tires and sent Keselowski out of the racing groove before he spun, which all but evaporated his hopes of transferring to the next round.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by a second over Harvick and Allmendinger. As the field behind continued to jostle for last-minute positions, Bell was able to navigate his way around the circuit for the final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to win the race and earn a one-way ticket to the Round of 8.
In addition to maintaining his championship hopes of this season by transferring to the Round of 8, Bell captured his second Cup Series victory of this season, his first since winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July and the third of his career. The victory was also the 199th Cup victory for Joe Gibbs Racing, overall, as Bell became the fourth different competitor to win at the Roval.
“Oh, man, I don’t even know,” Bell, who was beaming, said on NBC. “Whenever I came off pit road and I was the first car with tires, I was just trying to wait and see where I stacked up. I saw there were 11 cars that stayed out on old tires, I was the first one on new tires. I said I guess we’re going to roll the dice here and see what happens. When I got into turn one, my spotter did an amazing job. They all started wrecking. He told me to stay tight to the middle, and that kept me out of all the junk in turn one. Really proud of everyone on this DeWalt team. They deserve it, man. We’ve been trying so hard to get DeWalt in Victory Lane. We finally got this Camry here.”
“Man, you just got to be there at the end of these things,” Bell added. “I keep watching all these races where the fastest car doesn’t always win. No secret that road courses have not been our strength year. We were just there at the right time. We obviously weren’t in position to win, we rolled the dice, gambled, it paid off for us. I feel really good about [us], that’s for sure. I knew that the whole time going into this second round of the Playoffs this was the troublemaker, with Talladega and then the road course being in here, when we weren’t strong on the road courses. I was really nervous about this round. I felt good about Texas. When we got out of there with no points, I thought it was going to be a really tough road. It was a really tough road. But there was an end to it.”
Amid the late carnage and turn of events, Harvick came home in second place followed by Kyle Busch, Allmendinger and Haley. Buescher, Wallace and Reddick finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, while Briscoe claimed ninth place on the track and the eighth and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by two points over Larson, who ended up 35th and out of the Playoffs as his hopes of winning a second consecutive Cup title evaporated.
“Man, what a wild day,” Briscoe, who was left relieved, said. “I told my guys before we took the initial green [flag] of the race, ‘There’s a difference between thinking we can move on and knowing we can move on.’ I knew we could move on. This team just never gives up. I told them I was never gonna give up. It took every bit of it there at the end. To be easily in, then that debris caution comes out and still, I thought we really had a good shot of making it in. Get wrecked on the backstretch and just crazy at the end of these races, especially the road course race. Just how much can change so quickly. I had no idea we were even gonna have a shot. Truthfully, I knew that we were probably out and I saw [Cindric] wreck. I was like, ‘Maybe, there’s still a chance.’ Just so proud of this race team. Just a really cool day. Looking forward to the Round of 8. It’s a lot of really, really good racetracks for me. If we get to Phoenix, we know we got a good car there too. Just overall, awesome day. Proud of my team and just move on.”
Photo by Kevin Ritchie for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[I was worried] As soon as I hit the wall,” Larson, who was left disappointed, said. “You give up that many spots, you know that you’re gonna be close. I just made way too many mistakes all year long and made another one today and ultimately, cost us an opportunity to go chase another championship. Just extremely mad at myself and let the team down a number of times this year. [I] Let them down in a big way today. We’ll keep fighting. We’ll come back stronger and I’ll definitely come back stronger and smarter. Make better moves out there. Just mad at myself. Bummer, but just got to move on.”
Photo by Kevin Ritchie for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Larson was not the only competitor left dejected with having championship hopes of this season diminished as Suarez, Cindric and Bowman (who did not compete due to concussion-like symptoms) were eliminated from the Playoffs.
“It was tough,” Suarez, who ended up 36th, said. “It was very, very tough. We did what we needed to do in the first half of the race: getting stage points and everything. Once we lost the [power] steering, it was pretty much just hoping for a little bit of luck, which we almost got right there at the end. It is what it is. We have to continue to get better. We have to come back to the shop and look at what went wrong and try to get better.”
“We were in a position where I needed one more spot,” Cindric, who fell back to 21st said. “I was working to try to get that spot. I haven’t seen the replay, but it sounds like I got hit from behind. Locked the rears [tires] and got set back. No, I just screwed that up. I think [Erik Jones] hit me there at the end. Doesn’t matter. Just trying to drive probably a little desperate for 30-lap older tires than every car around me. Just tried to make something happen. We were golden there if that red flag wouldn’t have come out. We were in a great spot to make it in. It’s the way these [races] go. Just frustrating, but that’s Playoff racing. I learned a lot in my rookie season and proud to be able to have a shot to finish out the season strong and have some fun the next couple of weeks.”
In addition to Bell and Briscoe, Elliott, Logano, Chastain, Byron, Blaney and Hamlin have transferred to the Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 10 laps. In total, 37 of 39 starters finished the race, with 27 finishing on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Christopher Bell, two laps led
2. Kevin Harvick, four laps led
3. Kyle Busch
4. AJ Allmendinger, 24 laps led
5. Justin Haley
6. Chris Buescher
7. Bubba Wallace
8. Tyler Reddick, 21 laps led
9. Chase Briscoe
10. Austin Dillon
11. Erik Jones, one lap led
12. Corey LaJoie
13. Denny Hamlin
14. Brad Keselowski
15. Aric Almirola
16. William Byron
17. Martin Truex Jr.
18. Joey Logano, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Chase Elliott, 30 laps led
21. Austin Cindric
22. Ty Gibbs
23. Noah Gragson
24. Cole Custer
25. Ty Dillon
26. Ryan Blaney
27. Michael McDowell
28. Harrison Burton, one lap down
29. Mike Rockenfeller, one lap down
30. Todd Gilliland, one lap down
31. Josh Williams, two laps down
32. JJ Yeley, two laps down
33. Loris Hezemans, two laps down
34. Conor Daly, three laps down
35. Kyle Larson, five laps down
36. Daniel Suarez, five laps down
37. Ross Chastain, nine laps down, three laps led, Stage 2 winner
38. Joey Hand – OUT, Accident
39. Daniil Kvyat – OUT, Engine
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Chase Elliott – Advanced
2. Christopher Bell – Advanced
3. Ryan Blaney – Advanced
4. Joey Logano – Advanced
5. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
6. William Byron – Advanced
7. Ross Chastain – Advanced
8. Chase Briscoe – Advanced
9. Kyle Larson – Eliminated
10. Daniel Suarez – Eliminated
11. Austin Cindric – Eliminated
12. Alex Bowman – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 16. The event’s coverage is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Christopher Bell celebrates after winning Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL™ 400, his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory. (HHP/Chris Owens photo)
CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 9, 2022) – With NASCAR Playoff mayhem unfolding behind him at every turn, Christopher Bell kept his cool, sped to the lead on a restart with two laps to go and emerged with an unexpected victory in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL™ 400.
Bell needed a win to advance into the Playoffs’ Round of 8, and a series of late-race cautions created a golden opportunity for the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Bell took advantage of fresh tires and an excellent restart, passing Kevin Harvick and driving away for the third win of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Defending series champion and reigning ROVAL™ winner Kyle Larson was in safe position to advance in the Playoffs before he encountered a broken toe link with 10 laps to go. Larson’s team repaired the damage and gave Larson a fighting chance to advance to the Round of 8.
His luck ran out in the final turns of the last lap, when fellow Playoff contender Chase Briscoe used new tires and two last-lap desperation moves to finish ninth and knock Larson out of the Playoffs. Larson finished 35th and missed out on advancing by two points.
Alex Bowman — who didn’t race on Sunday after sustaining a concussion two weeks earlier — was eliminated along with Larson, Austin Cindric and Daniel Suarez.
Harvick lost out on a Round of 12 bid after he was one of the first four out of the Playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway in September.
He nearly responded with a win on Sunday.
Harvick made contact with then-race leader A.J. Allmendinger on a restart after the race’s third caution, took the lead and was primed to win, but another caution erased his advantage, bunched up the field and gave Bell the opportunity he needed to punch his ticket into the Round of 8. Harvick settled for second with Kyle Busch third.
Allmendinger, who won Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, ended up three spots short of a weekend sweep in fourth. Justin Haley finished fifth with Chris Buescher sixth, Bubba Wallace seventh, Tyler Reddick eighth, Briscoe ninth and Austin Dillon 10th.
CHRISTOPHER BELL, NO. 20 JOE GIBBS RACING TOYOTA (Race Winner): “Really mind-blowing. The whole race went green-flag (until the last 10 laps) and I thought we were just biding our time, waiting for the end of the race. I was thinking about getting out of here with a top-10 and focusing on trying to get fifth in points (after getting eliminated). I feel extremely good about what we have going on in the next three races. Since the schedule came out, we felt like the Round of 16 were great tracks for us, just like the Round of 8, but this round, with Talladega and here, we felt pretty nervous. I still felt like we could advance, but it wasn’t going to be easy. We needed to hit a home run. These last two weeks, I’ve just been extremely deflated. I was down in the dumps. I can promise you now, though, that I’m as excited as I’ve ever been for these next three races. I didn’t see (a win) coming. We haven’t been good on road courses this year. With that being said, you see races all the time where the fastest car doesn’t win. We weren’t expecting to be a dominant car, but as long as you’re there at the end and you put yourself in position, you never know what’s going to happen.”
JOE GIBBS, NO. 20 JOE GIBBS RACING TOYOTA (Winning Car Owner): “The amazing thing is, if there was a type of cutoff race we didn’t want, it was going to be a road race. You wouldn’t think things would play out the way they played out, but we’re thankful for it. I think this really shows how this sport is totally about teamwork. This is a big deal for us, very emotional. We love being a part of this and getting the chance to compete against the best race teams in the world, so it’s a thrill to win a race like this.”
ADAM STEVENS, NO. 20 JOE GIBBS RACING TOYOTA (Winning Crew Chief): “I mean, really, if you look at it, our road-course stuff hasn’t been where we needed it to be. We needed a caution at the end, we needed to do something different than what those guys were going to do. If (the leaders) came and got tires, we were going to stay out. We didn’t fall too far in the field, Bell got a tremendous restart and he made it happen.”
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 STEWART-HAAS RACING FORD (Runner-Up): “I knew we were in a bit of a pickle there with Christopher on new tires. I just didn’t want to blow the (first) corner, I wanted to give us a chance, but he was able to roll more speed than we were, and from there it was just damage control and bringing the thing home. That’s what we did. The (crew) did a good job getting us the track position, but that last caution killed us. We were a half-lap from getting the white flag and then on the restart there, Christopher did a good job. This is a tough race track to get a good finish, because it turns really rough at the end. We were really a half-lap from getting a win, but Christopher did a good job on new tires. It was still a great day.”
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 18 JOE GIBBS RACING TOYOTA (Third-Place Finisher): “We just lucked into jumping a few cars during that middle stage, and then there at the end it was just trying to keep it on track and stay straight. We were losing rear tire grip and got that late caution, then we took advantage of new tires.”
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BELL SCORES ROVAL VICTORY IN MUST-WIN SCENARIO TO ADVANCE TO ROUND OF EIGHT Two Camry TRDs Advance to Round of 8 to Battle for 2022 Cup Championship
CHARLOTTE (October 9, 2022) – Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Roval road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway to advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens, brought the No. 20 Camry to pit road for fresh tires allowing him a chance to chase down the leaders in the closing laps – knowing they were in a must-win scenario to advance to the next round. Bell was able to make his way from seventh to second in a matter of a lap before a red flag came out forcing an overtime restart. Bell would pass race-leader Kevin Harvick and lead the final two laps to collect his second win of the season.
In addition to Bell, Denny Hamlin also transferred to the Round of 8 with his 13th place finish giving Toyota two Camrys advancing and still alive to battle for a championship.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course Race 31 of 36 – 252.88 miles, 109 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL
2nd, Kevin Harvick *
3rd, KYLE BUSCH
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, Justin Haley*
7th, BUBBA WALLACE
13th, DENNY HAMLIN
17th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
22nd, TY GIBBS
39th, DANIIL KVYAT
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
At what point did you think you would be in position to get the victory and advance in the Playoffs?
“Oh, man, I don’t even know. Whenever I came off pit road and I was the first car with tires, I was just trying to wait and see where I stacked up. I saw there were 11 cars that stayed out on old tires, I was the first one on new tires. I said, I guess we’re going to roll the dice here and see what happens. When I got into turn one, my spotter did an amazing job. They all started wrecking. He told me to stay tight to the middle, and that kept me out of all the junk in turn one. Really proud of everyone on this DeWalt team. They deserve it, man. We’ve been trying so hard to get DeWalt in Victory Lane. We finally got this Camry here.”
What does this win say about not giving up and the determination of this race team?
“Man, you just got to be there at the end of these things. I keep watching all these races where the fastest car doesn’t always win. No secret that road courses have not been our strength year. We were just there at the right time. We obviously weren’t in position to win, we rolled the dice, gambled, it paid off for us.”
How dangerous can this team be in the Round of 8 and to contend for this championship?
“I feel really good about it, that’s for sure. I knew that the whole time going into this second round of the Playoffs this was the troublemaker, with Talladega and then the road course being in here, when we weren’t strong on the road courses. I was really nervous about this round. I felt good about Texas. When we got out of there with no points, I thought it was going to be a really tough road. It was a really tough road. But there was an end to it.”
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How was your race overall today?
“It was definitely a good day for our M&M’S Camry. There at the end, before everything happened, we were just trying to keep it on the track and stay straight. We were really losing rear tire grip and losing time. But we got that late caution, made a pit stop and took advantage of new tires – came up with a third-place finish. Vegas is next week and we always look forward to it. We were fast there in the spring so hopefully we can do the same thing.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What type of race was this for you today?
“It was the type of day where basically wherever you got placed on the track was where you were going to run, unless someone made a mistake in front of you. We preferred that kind of day even though it is what it is even though our FedEx team did a great job with strategy and making sure that we junked stage two when we saw we weren’t going to get stage points there. Those guys that were in front of us most of the day ended up behind us and nobody could pass so it worked out nicely for us.”
How do you feel about your chances moving into the next round of the Playoffs?
“All of them are P1 for me and I like all of them. All of them are just perfect for what our strength is, especially with the Toyotas and myself. I’m excited. We had a good test at Martinsville and even though we finished bad there in the spring. We’re going to have to qualify well there and track position is going to be huge. We’re going to go to work and really excited about our prospects in this next round.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
Date: Oct. 9, 2022 Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval (2.28-mile, 17-turn road course) Format: 109 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/59 laps) Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 109-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish. Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford) Stage 2 Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
● Chase Briscoe (8th with 3,104 points, two points above top-eight cutoff… advances to Round of 8) ● Kevin Harvick (16th with 2,006 points) ● Aric Almirola (20th with 685 points) ● Cole Custer (25th with 550 points)
Playoff Standings to Begin Round of 8:
Chase Elliott (4,046 points) +31
Joey Logano (4,026 points) +11
Ross Chastain (4,021 points) +6
Christopher Bell (4,018 points) +3
William Byron (4,015 points) -3
Ryan Blaney (4,015 points) -3
Denny Hamlin (4,013 points) -5
Chase Briscoe (4,009 points) -9
Failed to Advance to Round of 8:
Kyle Larson (3,102 points) -2
Daniel Suárez (3,095 points) -9
Austin Cindric (3,091 points) -13
Alex Bowman (3,015 points) -89
SHR Notes:
● Harvick earned his eighth top-five and 15th top-10 of the season. It was his second top-five and third top-10 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval.
● Harvick’s second-place result bettered his previous best finish at the Roval – third, earned in 2019.
● Harvick led once for four laps to increase his laps-led total at the Roval to 38.
● Harvick has now led 11,475 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,991 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.
● Briscoe earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his first top-10 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval.
● This was Briscoe’s third straight top-10. He finished fifth Sept. 25 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and 10th last Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
● Briscoe’s ninth-place result bettered his previous best finish at the Roval – 22nd, earned in his first start at the track last October.
● Briscoe finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and eighth in Stage 2 to earn three more bonus points.
● Almirola earned his 15th top-15 of the season and his second top-15 in five career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval.
Race Notes:
● Christopher Bell won the Bank of America Roval 400 to score his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his first at the Roval. His margin over Harvick was 1.790 seconds.
● There were four caution periods for a total of 10 laps.
● Twenty-seven of the 39 drivers in the Bank of America Roval 400 finished on the lead lap.
Sound Bites:
“This is a tough racetrack just to get a good finish because of the fact that it turns into being rough at the end. We were half a lap from getting to the white (flag) and probably winning the race, but just not quite as good on the restart compared to Christopher (Bell) and his new tires, but still a great day. I knew we were gonna have to have a perfect corner there with Christopher having such fresher tires. He was able to get through traffic and was able to roll through a little bit more speed in turn one, turn two, turn three and turn four and just got in front of me, but we were able to hold off Kyle (Busch), so it’s still a good day. Our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang guys did a great job of putting us in position and having a chance.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang
“What a wild day. I told my guys before we took the initial green in the race, there’s a difference between thinking we could move on and knowing we could move on. This team never gives up. I told them I was never going to give up. It took every bit of it there at the end. To be easily in, then that debris caution comes out, still I thought we had a really good shot of making it in. Get wrecked on the backstretch. Crazy at the end of these races, especially the road-course race, how much can change so quickly. I had no idea we were even going to have a shot. Truthfully, I knew we were probably out. I saw the 2 (Austin Cindric) wreck, I thought maybe there’s still a chance. We had so much fresher tires than anybody. Johnny (Klausmeier, crew chief) pumped them way up to qualifying pressures, let me go attack, have the ball in my hands. Super proud of this race team. Pretty cool day for Ford Performance Racing. Looking forward to the Round of 8. A lot of really, really good racetracks for me. If we can get to Phoenix, we know we’ve got a good car there, too. It’s weird (in these slick conditions). Seems like dirt guys, especially sprint car guys, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, (Christopher) Bell, you’re slipping and sliding so much. You have more power than you can typically put down. It’s similar to a sprint car. The sprint car background definitely helps when you come to a place like this. Cool to see a sprint car guy win and another one move on in the playoffs.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the South Point 400 on Sunday, Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the seventh race of the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs and the first race in the Round of 8. The South Point 400 starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS: POS. DRIVER 1st Christopher Bell (Toyota) 2nd Kevin Harvick (Ford) 3rd Kyle Busch (Toyota) 4th AJ Allmendinger (Chevrolet) 5th Justin Haley (Chevrolet)
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 will get underway next Sunday, October 16, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the South Point 400 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBCSports Gold App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 37th
What are you thinking when you have to go to the garage to make some repairs?
“Really nothing going through my head.. just a testament to the No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevy team to get my car back out there that quick. They got the suspension fixed and got us back out there to finish.”
You go onto the next round. How are you feeling?
“I’m human, so it hurts to make the mistakes that I made today and yesterday. I’ll take some time here with my guys and when I drive out of this parking lot, I’m going to make a big effort to leave the ROVAL here. Normally, it’s Monday morning when I’m done with it and look through everything, but we’re onto another round.
It’s a testament to our season and our finish in points today. The strategy by Phil Surgen (Crew Chief) and our strategy with Trackhouse and Team Chevy to get the stage win in Stage Two is ultimately the difference that gave me the buffer when I needed it the most. I will drive off the property here in Concord and leave this here. It’s number one priority.”
Take me through the incident that caused the damage?
“Lack of awareness of car placement in turn two and hit the wall.”
“As soon as I hit the wall. Yeah, you just give up that many spots; you know it’s going to be close and then the caution there. So, yeah, I just made way too many mistakes all year long. Made another one today and it ultimately cost us a chance to go chase another championship. Just extremely mad at myself because I let the team down a number of times this year and let them down in a big way today. We will keep fighting and we will come back stronger. I will definitely come back stronger, smarter and make better moves out there. Just mad at myself. Bummer.”
Seems like you take a lot of the blame for this. How do you make it up to the team?
“Go race hard. There is no other person to blame than myself for today. I feel like our team put ourselves in a position as well as we could on points today. We got as many stage points as we could and I think we were plus 27 or 28 at the time when I screwed up. Just for no reason either. I wasn’t even pushing all that hard at that moment. It got loose and caught me off guard.
So yeah, just keep working on my craft, get better and make a lot less mistakes. Like I said, I made way too many mistakes this whole year and you can’t win a championship like that.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 20th
You led the most laps today, but chaos there at the end of the race. How do you describe it from your perspective?
“I’m not 100 percent sure.. I haven’t seen a replay yet.
I thought I had a pretty good launch and thought I got through (turns) one and two good. I thought I gave AJ (Allmendinger) enough room through one and two to not run into the fence. I don’t know if he just got loose, overdrove turn three or whatever, but I ended up on the outside. Whatever the reason, he ran wide and I ended up the track in a super compromised situation.
Bummer. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) called a great race. Our No. 9 NAPA Chevy wasn’t great, but it was plenty good enough to win. Our team called a perfect race to get us the lead, and our pit stops were really good to not to have any mistakes and get us a really nice cushion. We had a lot of laps on our tires, but I could maintain my pace out there with having a nice gap. We’ll try again next week.”
We restack things next week with Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville. How is your confidence level in the Round of 8?
“I think it’s going to be a really tough round. Vegas was a struggle for us in the spring. Homestead, we’ve just been really hit-or-miss there. We did have a test there a couple weeks ago, so hopefully we’ve learned from that. Martinsville, it’s just going to be about how you qualify because I don’t see anybody passing there. We’ll see how it goes. Try to bring our A-game. It would have been nice to have some more points from today, but we didn’t and we’ll try again out in Las Vegas.”
AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 16 ACTION INDUSTRIES CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 4th
How are you feeling with the crazy way that race finished?
“When you are that close to winning, it’s for sure disappointing. But I’m happy with the way this No. 16 Action Industries Chevy was. It was really fast. We just need to work a little bit on pit road. We lost that little bit of track position, and it was a track position game. Once I got around the 8 (Tyler Reddick), I was burning my stuff up trying to catch the 9 (Chase Elliott). With those restarts, I knew I was kind of used up already. I got a good restart there and when Chase and I touched kind of through (turn) two, I went to set up for three and it turned me sideways and I slid a little more. That was unfortunate because that allowed the 4 (Kevin Harvick) to get to my bumper and we know Kevin is going to do that if he gets any chance. That’s a part of racing and going for the win. That second restart there, it was just a couple of guys with better tires, and you are just a sitting duck.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 VALVOLINE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 16th
“Give enough room, try to not barrel it into the chicane and get hooked in the left- or right-rear. Certainly, just not how you want to race there at the end, but it was just crazy racing with the green-white-checkered and the way that guys are able to get into each other, make contact, guys spin out and the track gets blocked. It just gets wild there at the end.
But we did what we needed to do, which was to get some stage points and finish the race. We’ll move on and get ready for Las Vegas.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 COMMSCOPE CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 36th
How hard was today for you?
“Very tough. The second-half of the race was probably the most difficult race I’ve driven in my life, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, me as a driver, that’s something that’s out of my control.”
As you look back on this year, certainly there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a very encouraging year, isn’t it?
“It’s been good. Certainly we have to continue to work and continue to get better.”
It was hard to pass out there. What did it look like from inside the race car?
“The first-half of the race was good; and then we had a mechanical failure with the steering and after that, it was game over. It’s very disappointing to lose a race like that. Our No. 99 CommScope Chevy was good; it was fast. I felt like it was going to be an easy transition based on the speed that we had, but once we lost the steering, I was just trying to survive. My arms are destroyed right now. My hands are destroyed. It’s just unfortunate.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES
Stage One:
· William Byron led Chevrolet to the green in the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 playoffs elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, taking a front row starting spot in his No. 24 Valvoline Camaro ZL1.
· Chevrolet playoff contender, Ross Chastain, moved to the rear of the field in the starting lineup after damage sustained in an accident in yesterday’s qualifying session forced the team to make repairs to his No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1.
· The 25-lap Stage One went caution free, with five Chevrolet drivers taking spots in the top-10 of the stage. Leading the Bowtie brigade was William Byron, driving his No. 24 Camaro ZL1 to a second-place finish in the stage.
10th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1
Stage Two:
· Crew chief Randall Burnett called the No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1 to pit road with two laps remaining in Stage One, allowing Tyler Reddick to stay out during the stage break to give the No. 8 Camaro ZL1 a front row restart position for the start of stage two.
· Stage Two also went caution-free, with pit strategy atop the No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1 pit box putting Chastain into position to be at the top of the leaderboard and take the stage win. This marks Chastain’s sixth stage win of 2022.
· Stage Two Team Chevy Top-10:
1st Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
4th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1
5th Tyler Reddick, No. 8 3CHI Camaro ZL1
6th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 CommScope Camaro ZL1
10th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
Final Stage / Post-Race Notes:
· Chevrolet drivers took four of the top-10 finishing positions, led by AJ Allmendinger and the No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1 team in fourth. Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate, Justin Haley, rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1.
· Rounding the Team Chevy top-10 was Richard Childress Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon, who placed eighth and tenth, respectively.
· Three Chevrolet drivers advanced to the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8, including Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and William Byron; and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
Ty Dillon Post-Race Thoughts: “Really disappointed in the way that our race ended today in Charlotte. We ran clean all race and had a chance at stealing a really good finish, but I ran off track and put us in a bad position. Frustrated, but with the end of the race being so hectic, I feel like it was bound to happen. I’m thankful to QuickChek for the support and to my guys for sticking with it. We’ll head to Las Vegas and hope to rebound next weekend!”
Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
START: 26th FINISH: 11th POINTS: 18th
Erik Jones Post-Race Thoughts: “We had a good FOCUSfactor Chevy today and we were on track to get another top 10 finish, but just barely missed it after contact on the closing laps. Dave (Elenz, crew chief) and the team made the right changes all race to get our handling better and put us in position for a strong run and finish. We’ll keep building and head to Las Vegas next week to a track I enjoy, and try to get us another win.”
ABOUT PETTY GMS:
Petty GMS competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, operating the No. 42 Chevrolet for Ty Dillon and the No. 43 Chevrolet for Erik Jones. Founded in December 2021, Maury Gallagher, championship team owner of GMS Racing, purchased a majority interest of Richard Petty Motorsports. Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, known as “The King,” remains a key stakeholder of the organization. For more information, please visit www.pettygms.com.
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Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Team Earn Strong Top-10 Finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL
Finish: 10th Start: 15th Points: 14th
“We had a strong Get Bioethanol Chevrolet today at the ROVAL. It was probably one of the best road course cars we’ve had, so props to everyone at RCR and ECR. I made a mistake early and had to serve a pass-through penalty for missing the front stretch chicane on lap 1. Luckily, we were able to rebound and raced our way into the top-10 fairly early in the race. Our pit crew was fast all day and gained us spots on pit road, and Justin Alexander made the right adjustments to keep the No. 3 Chevy in the hunt. It was challenging to make the call to pit or stay out during the last few restarts. It was wild at the end of the race. Everyone was shoving and racing hard. I’m happy to leave with a top-10 finish and look forward to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.” -Austin Dillon
Tyler Reddick, 3CHI Team Grab 14th Top-10 of the Season At The ROVAL
Finish: 8th Start: 4th Points: 13th
“Overall, it was a solid day for our 3CHI team. We brought a really fast race car to the ROVAL and we followed our strategy. We did a lot of things right, but we’re naturally disappointed because we wanted to win today since we’ve had a lot of speed on road courses this year. Unfortunately, we had a little hiccup on our Stage 2 pit stop that forced us to take long when we refueled and we lost track position in the third stage. We fell a little bit behind, but we were in a position where if a caution had come out we could have been okay. I pushed really, really hard to try to close the gap to the No. 9 car and burned my tires up. When those cautions came at the end of the race, I didn’t have much left to lean on.” -Tyler Reddick
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 | Sunday, October 9, 2022
FORD FINISHING RESULTS
2nd – Kevin Harvick 6th – Chris Buescher 9th – Chase Briscoe 14th – Brad Keselowski 15th – Aric Almirola 18th – Joey Logano 21st – Austin Cindric 24th – Cole Custer 26th – Ryan Blaney 27th – Michael McDowell 28th – Harrison Burton 30th – Todd Gilliland 31st – Josh Williams 32nd – JJ Yeley 33rd – Loris Hezemans 38th – Joey Hand
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – “I knew we were gonna have to have a perfect corner there with Christopher having such fresher tires. He was able to get through traffic and was able to roll through a little bit more speed in turn one, turn two, turn three and turn four and just got in front of me, but we were able to hold Kyle off so it’s still a good day. Our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang guys did a great job of putting us in position and having a chance. We were half a lap there from being in the right spot. It didn’t all work out, but still a good day.”
WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FINAL RESTART? “I knew we were in a bit of a pickle there with Christopher on new tires and I just didn’t want to blow the first corner, I wanted to give us a chance he was just able to roll more speed than we were and from there it was just kind of like damage control and make sure you bring the thing home and that’s what we did. They did a good job. They got us in position and that caution coming out killed us there. We were half a lap from coming to the white and caution, so they did a good job.”
HOW CLOSE WAS IT FOR YOU ON FUEL? “I never lost fuel pressure, so not as close – maybe they were counting on a couple green-white-checkers, I don’t know. I never know what their strategy is until about Tuesday, so they’ll tell me why Tuesday and how close we were. I just do what I’m told like a well-trained dog.”
REWARDING TO COME OUT WITH A DECENT FINISH? “It is. This is a tough racetrack just to get a good finish because of the fact that it turns into being rough at the end. We were half a lap from getting to the white and probably winning the race, but just not quite as good on the restart compared to Christopher and his new tires, but still a great day.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – “It was nice to come in here with decent points and do a good job in the stages. It’s a shame because I thought our car was super fast, but when you’re stage points racing you just bury yourself and you’re just trying to stay out of everyone else’s junk there at the end. We still ended up getting in other people’s junk because people are running you over and spinning you out, but luckily we had a good points cushion. It seemed to be exciting on the cut line. We’ll go on to next week and it’ll be good.”
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAST RESTART? “Get run over by people just like Indy. I don’t know who ran me over, but put them on the list I guess.”
YOU HAD A CUSHION. HOW WAS IT TO HAVE THAT? “It was a help. It never hurts, but you come in and we did the stage game in the first stage and got our points, but then you just bury yourself the rest of the day and it was so hard to pass today. You kind of bury yourself right at the beginning and it doesn’t matter how fast your car is, you can’t come from 25th and drive up through there. We did a good job. We had a plan coming into this weekend with where we were on points and stuck with that plan. It’s a shame it has to be that way, but on the other side you just try to be as smart as you can.”
WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT ROUND? “I’m looking forward to getting to Vegas. I think we’ve come a long way on our mile-and-a-half program. Between Vegas and Homestead and obviously Martinsville is a strong place for us in the spring, so I’m looking forward to it. We’ve just got to put together good races with no mistakes and keep doing what we’ve been doing. I’d really like to win and not have to worry about the next two weeks, but I think this team has been doing a great job. They’re really focused right now.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – “My guys did a great job all weekend. We had a long shot, but had a shot at it and kept ourselves in the game. Obviously, I had a great shot at the end. That last caution really stung because we would have been in without that last caution. Old tires against new tires. I wish we would have had probably some better track position and probably do a few things right here and there, but, overall, great to have a shot, great to be in the playoff picture. I learned a lot in my rookie season racing against a lot of the best. I was a bit of a bonehead on the last couple restarts just trying to make something happen with 30-lap worse tires than everybody around me, but, overall, great experience but just a little bit short.”
THOUGHTS ON THE LAST LAPS. “Very, very crazy. I would not recommend doing restarts with 30-lap older tires compared to everybody else that have less grip. It was just crazy and being only a couple spots ahead I was fighting for everything I had. My driving standards were probably a little bit lower than I usually like keeping them, but just desperate at that point. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We were in a really great position before that first green-white-checkered. We had a few spot margin and had a decent gap behind. The caution came out and I felt like that sealed our fate in some ways. Even then, I was one point out and needed the spot and tried to get it. I didn’t get myself clear and it was just a mess on the back chicane, so, overall, definitely some things I feel like we could have done better to execute today, but I definitely feel like we could have some more progress with the car, but, otherwise, great to be part of it and have a shot. We’re still coming to the final race, it’s just unfortunate we didn’t finish.”
WHAT WAS DONE IT MEAN MAKING IT THIS FAR IN YOUR ROOKIE SEASON? “I would have like to make it further. That’s the way I look at it. I don’t look at this as an opportunity that everyone is gonna have every year. If you’re in a good car with a good team it’s still not guaranteed. We had one guy make it in on points this year and that’s it. There’s past champions that missed out on the playoffs. I’ve got a guy standing next to me right here (Larson) that I think is one of the best drivers, if not the best driver in the field, and he’s not advancing on. This is not an easy format. It’s not a forgiving format and there are guys who have had worse luck than I have. If we have Texas go how it should have and not have to pull off a miracle and miss the 47 spinning, we finish in the top three and we probably pit and put on tires and have a simple end to our race today, but, either way, that’s not how this sport works. It’s not that easy and it’s not an opportunity that’s guaranteed every year and I want to make the most of it.”
WHEN IT’S HARD TO PASS, RESTARTS BECOME EVEN MORE IMPORTANT? “Yeah, restarts were definitely everything. Like stage two, I got hosed. We just had a slow car get caught in the middle of me and the 11 and I went from maybe gaining one or two spots on the restart to losing six and you spend the entire stint trying to pick that six back up.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang – HOW MUCH WERE THEY UPDATING YOU AT THE END? “That was a rollercoaster of emotions. To be easily in and then that caution came out and the 3 just dumped me. Thinking we were out again. I knew at the end there it was gonna be chaos. I feel like all respect goes out the window every time we have a caution at the end of one of these things. Johnny just did a really good job of giving me the ball there at the end and letting me have tires and just trying to go for it. I’m sure I made a couple people mad there at the end, but I had no idea – they just kept telling me every point is gonna matter here, so I just kept trying to pass everybody I could and got lucky that a couple of those holes opening up, but I’m just proud of my team. Nobody believed we were gonna get past the Round of 16 and here we are in the Round of 8 and three really, really good racetracks for me coming up, so I’m looking forward to them.”
DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD TO MAKE THAT LAST MOVE TO GAIN POINTS? “Yeah, I was making good ground. I knew the 3 had literally wrecked me two laps before and I was wanting to give it back to him because I was so mad and then I just knew I had to go. It’s a tough spot for the non-playoff guys. The 43, I kind of put him in a really bad spot and put myself in a bad spot too, but I was just shoving him because I had to get going knowing that every spot was gonna make the difference. My team came over the radio and told me I was one point out and that was the 43 car that I needed to pass, so I kind of shoved him out of the way and then the 3 got by both of us and then I had the back straightaway to do a Hail Mary and luckily somebody caught it and I was able to move on.”
EMOTIONS COMING OUT OF THE CAR? “I feel happier than I ever have when I’ve won a race before, truthfully. I know what this team is capable of, especially in this next round. Homestead, I feel like, is by far my best racetrack. Vegas, I’ve been able to have a lot of success there and Martinsville we were really fast. If we can get to Phoenix, we know we have a good car there, too. To have a one in eight chance to win a NASCAR championship is an unbelievable feeling and I think that’s why it feels even bigger than a win.”
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang – WHEN IT’S HARD TO PASS IS THAT WHY WE SEE WHAT WE DO AT THE END? “You’ve got guys that were onesies, twosies that were gonna barely make it and when you have desperate situations like that, people just send it and it ends up to be a mess. I’m sure there are a lot of scorecards that everybody kept today and I didn’t dump anybody, so that was great. No one’s mad at me (laughing).”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEXT ROUND? “I feel good. I like Vegas. We had a pretty good test at Miami and Martinsville has been one of Penske’s best racetracks as of late, so I feel pretty good about it.”
Longtime NASCAR crew chief, mechanic, team executive and television personality Andy Petree, right, was presented with the Smokey Yunick Award on Sunday by Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith, prior to the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400. (HHP/Harold Hinson photo)
CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 9, 2022) – From a weekly short-track racer to a NASCAR championship crew chief to a NASCAR Cup winning team owner, Andy Petree’s more than 40-year racing career has encompassed every facet of the sport; a professional journey that has led to him being named this year’s recipient of the prestigious Smokey Yunick Award.
Petree was presented the award Sunday by Speedway Motorsports CEO and President Marcus Smith prior to the fifth edition of the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“Like Smokey, I came from humble beginnings, and I feel blessed to be able to make a career out of this,” said Petree, who now serves as the vice president of competition for Richard Childress Racing. “Just having Smokey Yunick and my name on the same plaque is very special. It’s very humbling, and I appreciate it.”
Petree joins a lengthy list of NASCAR greats who have received the honor, including Cotton Owens, Banjo Mathews, Ralph Moody, Ray Evernham, Dale Inman, Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Waddell Wilson, Larry McReynolds and Gary Nelson.
Legendary car owner and mechanic Henry “Smokey” Yunick instituted the award in 1997 to annually recognize an individual who rose from humble beginnings to make a major impact on the motorsports industry. Yunick passed away on May 9, 2001, and Charlotte Motor Speedway has continued the award in his memory.
“It’s such a pleasure to present this award every year,” said Marcus Smith, the president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports. “Our sport has an amazing history. Smokey was renowned for his innovation and his creativity, and every year, we’re paying honor to the legends that paved the way for the rest of us today. We’re really pleased to present it to Andy Petree this year.”
Born in Newton, N.C., Petree grew up listening to cars driven by Ned Jarrett, Bobby Isaac, Tommy Houston and Harry Gant roar around Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway. He started his racing career as a mechanic for friend John Settlemyre, who won five consecutive track championships at Hickory, 1977-81.
However, Petree wanted to build his own car to race at the weekly short track. With the help of friend Jimmy Newsome, Petree constructed a 1968 Chevrolet Nova, but the two young men ran out of money before they could purchase an engine for it. Ned Jarrett agreed to provide the duo an engine on one condition, his younger son, Dale, would drive the car. That endeavor led the three friends to form DAJ Racing, an acronym for the first names of the team’s three partners – Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree and Jimmy Newsome. However, Petree didn’t confine himself to building cars. Occasionally he would race at Hickory, but he quickly realized his future was in working on race cars.
In 1981, Petree joined Junior Johnson’s operation as a tire changer for Darrell Waltrip, who earned his first NASCAR Cup championship that season. He then moved to the team owned by brothers Leo and Richard Jackson and worked his way up through the ranks. In 1987 at age 28, Petree was named crew chief for Phil Parsons.
When the Jackson brothers decided to own separate race teams, Leo Jackson purchased Hollywood stuntman and director Hal Needham’s operation and Petree went with him to become Harry Gant’s crew chief. Petree and Gant recorded nine victories during their four-year stint, including four straight in September 1991.
After 1992, Richard Childress needed a new crew chief for five-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, and he set his sights on Petree. The duo proved successful, claiming back-to-back championships in 1993 and 1994. In three seasons together, they won just under $10 million, two championships and 15 races.
When Leo Jackson decided to retire, he offered to sell his team to his former crew chief. Petree accepted and Andy Petree Racing was born, first as a single-car team and then later a two-car operation. In 322 races over an eight-year period, Petree’s team recorded two victories, 16 top-five and 54 top-10 finishes, six poles and $17.6 million in winnings.
Petree, who had five NASCAR Xfinity races under his belt as a driver, briefly returned to competition after shutting down his Cup operation. He competed in one Modified, seven Camping World Truck Series, and two ARCA races before turning his attention to television.
Petree was a color commentator for ESPN/ABC 2007-2014. In 2015, he was hired by Fox Sports as a rules analyst for its NASCAR telecasts but he didn’t return the following season. He joined Richard Childress Racing in 2017 as its vice president of competition.
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